Congrats on the 100 way. I saw it on our second jump of the day, a blog against the clouds...very nice.
Congrats to all the participants, it's a shame that it couldn't beat the 68 or 71 ways (with regard to the grid).
Was a grand, beautiful thing to see.

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Does anyone have details on what criteria were used? I've missed all the personal bs that's been going around but am honestly just curious as I was a member if the last record jump that couldn't make it this time. It doesn't look like it fits the grid, yet the posts from the event mentioned waiting on the judges ruling, so I was interested in how/what they were judging?

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Guiness criteria are a bit more relaxed than the FAI; I guess the difficulty is that no-one has ever really defined what a formation of "aircraft" are - for example, we see the Red Arrows / Blue Angels fly in "formation" although I don't believe anyone has set any criteria for what consititutes that beyond what looks good! Anyway, a number of FAI judges have agreed (with the Guiness book's consent) that we have fulfilled their criteria for our 100-way yesterday.

We're currently doing 99-ways to make the prettiest, most regular formation we can! I'm sure someone will keep everyone updated. It's quite exciting.Lastly, a big thanks to our videographers for making us all look good!

Congrats on the 100 way. I saw it on our second jump of the day, a blog against the clouds...very nice.
Congrats to all the participants, it's a shame that it couldn't beat the 68 or 71 ways (with regard to the grid).
Was a grand, beautiful thing to see.

A congrats with a little passive aggressiveness mixed in. Beautiful.

_justin

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It seems the formation was not "gridworthy" (but I don't really care, for me it is still a 100way and an awesome moment for the people who did it, and for us who dream about it).
Now, was it not gridworthy because of the slot flying, or did the "optics" of the cameras contribute to a visual distortion of the formation ? (in other words, is there a technical limit to the judgement by the grid?)

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We were trying to get a vertical fall-rate of around 65mph. Suits used varied from phantom 2s (Rolf Brombach was in his) through Vampires, Blades and bigger Tony suits, as well as a significant contingent of S-Fly suits - so quite varied! If anything, the really big suits were more of a hinderance for this.

The greatest altitude we got was around 13,500ft. Because high clouds, I think we only actually got 13,000ft on our record jump. All break-offs began from 5,500ft in stages, with the formation initially breaking into 5 chunks before further separating again from 4,500ft (and again at 3,500ft for the very front 9-way diamond).

I was hot, sweaty, scared, sometime bleeding and tired...but it was so very rewarding. Seeing a group of people from all over the world come together and overcoming obstacles is very fulfilling. Thanks to all of those that were on the team...and that doesn't mean just people that were flying. Also massive kudos to Perris and DanBC for being so supportive.

I was hot, sweaty, scared, sometime bleeding and tired...but it was so very rewarding. Seeing a group of people from all over the world come together and overcoming obstacles is very fulfilling. Thanks to all of those that were on the team...and that doesn't mean just people that were flying. Also massive kudos to Perris and DanBC for being so supportive.

Already looking forward to the next one!

Agree with everything above. I wouldn't normally call waking up early to run around in dirt in 105 degree weather "fun", but it was totally worth it and I'm so happy I got to be part of this team.

I hadn't jumped much at Perris before, but I will definitely be spending more time there in the future.

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I'll have more to say later, right now I'm decompressing from the event, getting ready to go back to my day job and I have little time...

That whole thing was BRUTAL. Hot. Violent. Fast. Extreme test of skill, awareness, ability. Wouldn't have it any other way. Most stimulating thing I've done in ages. Did a fair bit of teaching, learned a lot myself, improved the hell out of my timing and targetting skills.

Top reviews to the DZ itself. The whole "surface reduced to rubble" thing I could do without, but for something like this, you land on whatever you have to, and we were using FAR more than the DZ itself. I was landing about a mile away damn near every time. Never been to Perris before... holy COW is that place spectacular. Restaurant. Bar. Pool and much much more. Rigging shop that works FAST. I didn't know they MADE dropzones like this one. Redefined my idea of "professional". If you're gonna hold a mega-way, this is the place for it.

Outstanding performances by all involved. Made a lot of new friends, and reestablished friendships with old ones. Had the time of my life.
Was an honor and privilege to be a part of this. I was one of the last out every time, part of the 4-bird completion team at the tail. A worthy challenge, tested my diving skills bigtime. I had incredible view of the whole thing forming up, and got to see massive improvement as the event progressed. Some seriously badass pilots here, very happy to fly with you ALL.
Got no more time now, but DAMN was that an awesome experience and I will be back for more when it happens.
Fly safe you guys,
-B